Ray tracing is typically incapable of diffuse reflections. It goes from the camera and traverses geometry until hitting something, possibly experiencing a few mirror/shiny reflections.

Path tracing is usually bi-directional (from both light and camera) and uses something like Metropolis-Hastimgs to sample more efficiently than brute force. Our still requires many samples per pixel but the sampling nature means it can naturally support the random bouncing of diffuse reflections. Between bounces the is typically still ray tracing, though, unless it's some special volumetric material like Jade (the green jewel rock) or fog or (the contents of) a glass of milk.

Compare e.g. POV-Ray to LuxRenderer.